As I wrote yesterday, the government and the bosses have also tried to exploit divisions in the labor movement, attempting to isolate the leftist unions who are trying to push the protests forward. The government is hoping that the minimum wage increase will seem like a better option than indefinite protests for workers who are already feeling the pinch (the textile workers are some of the worst paid in the world). They’ve also added some concessions on food and housing subsidies. As part of this move to isolate the left, the government has been waging a ridiculous media campaign in which it claims that the protests were small and only affected a few factories:

However, labour linister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain termed Monday’s violence as an isolated incident, saying that trouble may have erupted at one or two factories out of the country’s 4,700 garments (RMG) factories.

The minister said they had settled the issue Sunday night after discussion with the union leaders who accepted the new salary-structure.

“Most of the garment workers did not know about the late night decision. I hope the situation will become normal from tomorrow (Tuesday),” the labour minister told reporters at a function at BGMEA head office.

The fact that the Minister of Labor made these remarks at a meeting of the textile factories gives you a sense of where his allegiances lie. Unsurprisingly, the editors of the major newspapers are siding with the government and the bosses against the workers, citing their abhorrence at the “violence and the vandalism.” What is certainly not meant is the violence of the police.

The bosses have been desperate to get the factories back to work and get police protection for their investments. Part of the reason is that the protesters have been targeting textile factories and have inflicted some serious damage. But the more important reason is that a slowdown in production in one of the most high-paced industries has a devastating effect on profits. The Bangladesh garment manufacturers are already claiming losses of around 113 million dollars (that’s by math converting Takas to Dollars). That includes losses from lost work, damage to garments, and property damage. And already, the textile manufacturers are threatening to leave Bangladesh, a country which they just moved to from China, citing the low cost of Bangladeshi labor as the primary factor.